Trowbridge

Trowbridge teen stole over £12k from mum

An 18-year-old who stole over £12,500 from his mum has been given a suspended two month prison sentence.

Janice Hunt was seeking full compensation from her son Connor Charles Hunt after he spent thousands of pounds on her credit card and stole £4,000 cash from her safe.

Hunt, who lives at the Amber Foundation centre in Trowbridge, appeared at magistrates’ court in Chippenham last Thursday to be sentenced for two counts of fraud by false representation and one of theft, to which he pleaded guilty three weeks earlier.

He was aged between 16 and 17 when he used his mum’s John Lewis credit card and Halifax bank account, and 17 when he raided her safe.

He felt let down by his mother, who the court was told had a drink problem.

Hunt, accompanied at court by two family members, but not his mum, was ordered to pay back £760, at a rate of £20 a month, to Janice Hunt, who lives in Trowbridge. He also has to return goods to her bought with her card including Gucci trainers, an iPad and iPhone, and must do 200 hours unpaid work.

Chair of the bench Jane Wilson Ward said: “We’ve taken into account the fact that two of these offences occurred when you were a youth, because they are so serious that otherwise you would expect to go to Crown Court.

“What aggravates things is that they were planned, you were in breach of trust because you stole from your mother, and it was multiple over a period of time.

“We could find no mitigation, but it was an early guilty plea and you have shown remorse. Amber Foundation is assisting you and you do actually have a career plan.

“We sentence you to custody in a young offenders’ institution for eight weeks, suspended for 12 months on condition you do not commit another offence.”